More than a third of the Swiss Alpine Club’s (CAS) huts could be unstable in the future due to thawing permafrost, according to a study published on Tuesday. In addition, 42 refuges are potentially threatened by landslides from permafrost areas.
The water supply to the cabins is also becoming delicate, communicates the CAS. About 29 cabins that still had glaciers in their watershed at the beginning of this century will lose them by 2030. This will affect another 25 cabins by 2050.
These forecasts show that adaptations must be made to guarantee supply.
Change of cabin environment
Today, guests can still see a glacier in almost a third of CAS’s 152 cabins. This will only be the case in 10% of accommodation by 2050 and in none of them by the end of the century. Over the next 25 years, melting ice will create large lakes near 21 cabins within a two kilometer radius.
Changes will also take place at the level of access paths. Currently, these pass, summer and winter, through glaciers for 22 cabins, but in a quarter of a century, this will only be the case for only 6 of them.
Melting permafrost, increasing natural hazards and changing landscapes require significant investments and innovative adaptations in cabin construction. The resources from the Cabin Fund will not be enough to finance construction projects. The CAS therefore says it is dependent on solid partnerships and donations.
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